About Us

Jackson Area Career Center provides a safe and diverse environment to develop skills for
career and college readiness.

Our Vision

The Vision of Jackson Area Career Center is to
educate students toward their career options.

It has been said the Career Center is one of the most valuable resources in the community today, and we feel the same way! We are passionate about providing the best high school career and technical education available anywhere, and we care about your success!

The Career Center's campus is a safe, friendly environment where students come because they want to learn and take advantage of what our instructors offer. Career Center instructors are professional, nurturing and, most importantly, knowledgeable about their subject material. Our instructors are certified teachers and have real-world experience in the career pathways they teach.

What is the Career Center?

The Career Center provides more than 1,200 Jackson and participating Hillsdale county students from all districts with advanced CTE (career and technical education) programming in 22 areas of study, complete with educational resources, career skill training, transferable high school and college credit, and high-tech environment that otherwise would not be available at their local schools. The Career Center is a service of the Jackson County Intermediate School District and is under the supervision of the JCISD School Board.

Juniors and seniors take Career Center classes as electives to their regular local school schedule. They are transported by school bus from their local high school to the Career Center and back, or sometimes elect to provide their own transportation. Flexible scheduling and class structures allow students to attend either morning or afternoon sessions.

JacksonCounty high school students attend the Career Center free of charge. HillsdaleCounty school districts pay tuition for those students who attend.

Our mission is to help students explore possibilities, develop skills, and achieve success.We do so by stressing rigor, relevance and relationships into each and every students education.

Relevance

The Career Center's hands-on approach and its real-world applications provide an alternative learning method that works for many of our students.

Knowing how they will apply what they learn in our classrooms to their everyday lives has changed the attitudes of many of our students towards their education. Exploring career goals often sparks more interest in their own education , and excites students to do better in all their classes, including the classes they are taking at their local school.

The result? Better grades. More learning. More opportunities.

Rigor

When you're operating $250,000 CNC machining equipment, measuring up to the physical fitness standards of the public safety classes, building a house with your own hands, or studying anatomy in one of the health occupations electives, you'll see its anything but easy.Our students are held to the high standards of industry professionals.

Once upon a time, people may have thought of vocational centers as a place to send struggling, non-college bound students a place to pick up easy credits. But with the added importance of technology in our curriculum and in today's world, its time to think again. In fact, more of our students continue on to post-secondary education than those who don't surveys show that 60 percent of Career Center students will continue their education at a college, university, trade school or in the military during the first five years after graduation.

Relationships

We take pride in the quality relationships we have built with our community with employers, the school districts we serve, and higher educational institutions in our community. Close ties are held with the business community, as each of our programs has an advisory board made up of industry leaders from our area. These boards keep us current on how we can best serve our students and our community.

But our most important relationships are with our students, alumni, and parents. We care about each and every student who walks through our doors and are dedicated to helping them develop as a person and achieve their individual goals!

We welcome the opportunity to talk to you about your abilities and your goals. Learn more today, and call us at 517-768-5100.

It is the policy of the Jackson County Intermediate School District not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, military status, national origin or ancestry, genetic information, age, sex (including sexual orientation or transgender identity), marital status or handicap in its educational programs, activities or employment as required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; or Title IX of the Educational Amendment of 1972. In addition, arrangements can be made to ensure that the lack of English speaking skills is not a barrier to admission or participation. Direct inquiries to Director of Human Resources, 6700 Browns Lake Road, Jackson, MI 49201. Telephone: (517) 768-5200.